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Merida Scultura 9000 review

Ultegra Di2-equipped speedster

Our rating

4.5

5950.00

Russell Burton / Our Media

Published: April 27, 2023 at 2:00 pm

Our review
The Scultura 9000 is an excellent race bike that won't require any upgrading out of the box

Pros:

Light; rapid; sharp handling; superb package

Cons:

Ride on the firm side (but not ride-spoilingly so)

This fifth-generation Scultura takes what was its lightweight road racing all-rounder and adds a layer of aerodynamics, while still maintaining the lightness the model is known for.

This aero-influenced design means a new set of tube shapes, including the ovalised down tube.

The result is a faster aero road bike that’s torsionally stiffer and comes with a lighter frame than when using full-on aero tubes.

Merida Scultura 9000 spec details

The one-piece Team SL bar and stem adds aero efficiency. - Russell Burton / Our Media

Further tweaks to this model of the Scultura include a smoothed seat-tube junction and a hidden seat clamp, as well as dropped seatstays.

The broad-legged fork is also designed to reduce drag, and Merida claims this new design will take 224.5 watts of your power to achieve 45kph compared to the previous bike’s 234.3 watts.

The Scultura frame weighs in at a claimed 822g, which is 40g lighter than the fourth-generation design.

Up front, the Team SL one-piece bar and stem adds more aero efficiency and the brake hoses are routed internally through it for a clean silhouette. The bar is 44cm wide and the stem has an effective length of 120mm.

This creates a speedy long and low ride position; the size-large frame we tested already has a long reach of 400mm, combined with a low stack of 571mm.

Unlike the flagship Scultura Team model, the 9000 gets ‘just’ a standard carbon seatpost rather than the S-Flex post. That said, the offset head of the post does allow for some vibration-smoothing flex.

The post is topped with ProLogo’s Scratch M5 saddle, which combines a great shape with different levels of flex throughout its hull.

At first, the Scratch can feel firm but I found it to be one of the most comfortable minimalist road bike saddles around.

The 9000 is completed by a combination of a full Shimano Ultegra Di2 groupset and Reynolds Aero 46 wheels. Ultegra Di2’s shifting performance is impeccable and well matched by some of the best hydraulic disc brakes in the business.

Merida Scultura 9000 geometry

XXSXSSMLXL
Seat angle (degrees)74.5747473.57373
Head angle (degrees)70.57272.573.573.574
Chainstay (mm)408408408408408408
Seat tube (mm)435458481501521550
Top tube (mm)520535545560575590
Head tube (mm)105112128140155176
Bottom bracket drop (mm)707066666666
Wheelbase (mm)9859829899901,0001,010
Standover (mm)721745765782800823
Stack (mm)517529542557571593
Reach (mm)377383390395400409

Merida Scultura 9000 ride impressions

The feel of the brakes is up there with the best. - Russell Burton / Our Media

The 52/36 chainset combined with an 11-30t cassette shows the bike’s racing predilections.

I was comfortable with the gearing, even on extended longer climbs, although for an epic sportive you may want a couple of extra teeth on the rear. Ultegra Di2 is, of course, now 12-speed and Shimano has used the extra gear to plug a gap often found in 11-speed cassettes.

The gear range now has a progression of 11-12-13-14-15-16-17-19-21-24-27-30, bringing back the 16-tooth sprocket often missed on wider 11-speed cassettes.

For fast flat or rolling terrain, I tend to sit in the 16-tooth sprocket and spin, and having such a smooth progression up and down from it makes this specification of Ultegra so usable.

Ultegra Di2’s gear range and shifting are superb. - Russell Burton / Our Media

Even with its performance gearing, the Scultura 9000 is a great bike to ascend aboard.

The combination of a stiffly efficient frame and fork with low overall weight add up to a bike that makes you want to attack short, steep climbs. Splitting longer efforts between high-tempo seated spinning and out-of-the-saddle inputs dispatches them with absolute efficiency.

The ride quality is certainly firm, as most great race bikes are, but that firmness doesn’t mean the bike transmits tiring road buzz and vibrations.

In fact, it neutralises those rather well. Hit a pothole or speed bump, however, and the solidity of the Scultura shows itself with bone-thumping, teeth-chattering resistance.

It comes with 28mm tyres, but has room for 30mm. - Russell Burton / Our Media

The Scultura is not the bike I’d choose if cobbles were part of my ride, certainly not with the 28mm tyres fitted here (the frame has clearance for 30mm tyres).

The steep parallel 73.5-degree angles and 45mm fork offset mirror the brand’s Reacto aero race bike.

This was done to allow Merida’s pro riders to switch bikes mid-tours with little adjustment needed. Running a 28mm tyre, this leads to a 55mm trail measurement for a quick-handling bike, as you’d expect.

The Reynolds Aero 46 wheelset combines, as the name suggests, a 46mm-deep rim with a 19mm internal width and uses Reynolds’ own i9 minimal hub design.

The freehub’s three-pawl design gives a fast six-degree engagement, and also quite a vocal buzz when freewheeling. The wheels feel tight and stiff and, at 1,525g, are light for the depth.

They are shod with the superb Continental 5000 S TR (tubeless-ready) tyres, which Merida should be applauded for.

Merida Scultura 9000 bottom line

Russell Burton / Our Media

So often on bikes, the first way to cut costs is to skimp on tyres. With Merida fitting one of the best road bike tyres available on the Scultura 9000, it has created a bike that hits every mark out of the box.

I can’t think of one part I’d look to change, or even add, because Merida also includes both an out-front GPS mount and a pair of carbon bottle cages as standard.

It's an exceptionally fast, light, sharp-handling aero road bike that builds on the Scultura's heritage and reaches another level of excellence.

Product

Brandmerida
Price5950.00 GBP
Weight7.5100, KILOGRAM (L) -

Features

ForkCF5 Carbon
br_stemMerida Team SL 1P integrated bar/stem
br_chainShimano
br_frameCF5 Carbon
TyresContinental Grand Prix 5000S TR 28c
br_brakesShimano Ultegra hydraulic disc
br_cranksShimano Ultegra, 52/36
br_saddlePrologo Scratch M5
br_wheelsReynolds Aero 46 DB
br_shifterShimano Ultegra Di2
br_cassetteShimano, 11-30
br_seatpostMerida Team SL carbon seatpost
br_handlebarMerida Team SL 1P integrated bar/stem
br_bottomBracketPressfit
br_availableSizesXXS, XS, S, M, L, XL
br_rearDerailleurShimano Ultegra Di2
br_frontDerailleurShimano Ultegra Di2
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